The subject matter described and/or illustrated herein relates generally to a communication connector having a mechanism for aligning with another connector.
Communication systems can include an electrical or optical connector that is configured to mate with another electrical or optical connector. Typically, the mateable pair of connectors have a plurality of communication terminals (or lines) in which each communication terminal must align with another communication terminal from the other connector. When the connectors are brought toward each other along a mating axis, the connectors must align with each other to assure the terminals are communicatively coupled. To this end, the connectors may include alignment features that facilitate aligning the connectors before the connectors are mated.
Alignment features typically include static, physical structures that are located on or proximate to an end of the connector. The alignment features of one connector can substantially complement the alignment features of the other connector. For example, a first connector may have an engagement face with one or more guide pins that project away from the engagement face along the mating axis. The second connector may have a mating face including one or more sleeves with cavities that are configured to receive the guide pins of the first connector. When the first and second connectors are moved toward each other along a mating axis, the guide pins are inserted into the cavities of the sleeves. If the first and second connectors are not aligned, the guide posts engage walls of the sleeve that redirect the connector(s).
Although such alignment mechanisms can function well when the first and second connectors face and approach each other along a mating axis, the guide pin/sleeve combination may present problems when the first connector approaches the second connector from the side (i.e., along a plane that is transverse to the mating axis). For example, if a connector having the guide pins approached another connector from the side, the guide pins could catch the other connector before the two connectors are aligned. This could damage one or both of the connectors. The guide pin/sleeve combination may also require at least one of the first and second connectors to move a relatively large amount (e.g., 2.0 mm or more) along the mating axis to mate the first and second connectors. A greater amount of movement along the mating axis can be undesirable in some instances. In addition to the above challenges, guide pins can be small in diameter and, as such, the alignment mechanism would only correct a limited amount of misalignment between the two connectors.
Accordingly, there is a need for a communication connector having an alignment mechanism that permits mating from the side and/or that allows greater amounts of misalignment than known alignment mechanisms.